


Summer Eyes and Taken Names (Re)

by Sclerophyllous



Series: A Late Summer Morning [2]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brotherly Love, Everyone Loves Natsume Takashi, Exorcists, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Natsume Takashi's Terrible Childhood, POV Outsider, Still not over these tags, Youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sclerophyllous/pseuds/Sclerophyllous
Summary: One eight year-old Natsume Takashi was reported missing after vanishing from his foster home without a trace. Without any family who truly cared about him, his name was soon to only ever be seen in official documents.Natori Shuuichi, actor-exorcist extraordinaire of the decade, stumbles upon a mysterious boy residing in the forest of Yatsuhara eight years later.A rewrite of my first piece of the same name!
Relationships: Natori Shuuichi & Natsume Takashi, Natsume Takashi & Youkai
Series: A Late Summer Morning [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927375
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62





	1. Headfirst (Prologue Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for waiting! After re-reading the first piece, I noticed a lot of flaws in the writing, and decided that trying again would be a good option (after almost half a year of pondering). I hope you'll enjoy this rewrite!
> 
> I still do not know what a plot is. Thank you for asking.

Small boots around even smaller feet treaded on the puddles of the frigid January evening as the child walked aimlessly through the frosted streets. Golden lamplight illuminated his small frame, wrapped in an old green coat two sizes too large for him.

Uncle Fuyukichi was not a bad person. The contents of the bottles scattered around the house just made him get angry more easily than usual. As long as Takashi was not in the house when the strange smell filled the air of the living room, he would be fine. 

He tried not to think about the times he did not notice it. It made the bruises start to hurt again.

Not having other people around somehow made the view of the blue-tinted forest in the distance much nicer to look at. If the trees were not interesting enough to maintain his attention, he would just have to stop under a light and read through the book full of strange characters again; at least until it was late enough that his uncle would be asleep.

Takashi was pulled out of his musings by the sound of footsteps a little ways behind him. Upon turning around, he was also greeted by the appearance of a silhouette turning a corner; an older woman who seemed to be approaching him. 

Her shadow looked long.

Too long.

Turning his head upwards, the boy's green eyes met with the bright orange ones of the large, pure black creature levitating a few metres above her.

He hurriedly averted his gaze, but it was too late.

It knew he could see it.

The black parted in the centre of its face, revealing two rows of grotesque yellow teeth. It was grinning.

**_"What a surprise. I wasn't expecting such a good human to turn up just when I needed one. Hello there, little child."_ **

The woman's was saying something different as the creature spoke, but Takashi neither heard it nor cared enough to try to listen.

The only thing he currently had to do was run.


	2. Headfirst (Prologue Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A brat gazes upon a youkai without fear... How brave..."
> 
> "... T-Tanuki?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter! Enjoy!

Takashi ran; the creature pursued, unrelenting.

Heart throbbing, lungs burning, he fled into the possibility of escape that was the Yatsuhara forest. He had heard of a temple amongst the trees through passing conversations, and latched on to the uncertain hope of it being nearby.

The branches behind him continued to crack, and the inhuman noises grew closer the more he tired.

This was the closest Takashi had felt to death in quite a long time.

_SNAP_

Something had restrained the movement of his legs long enough to let gravity grab ahold of him, and he collapsed just steps away from what appeared to be a shrine.

**_"Ah, the seal's been broken..._ **

Wait...

_Wait..._

"No, no, no, no..."

This was bad. Very bad. Broken seals only meant one thing: whatever was being kept there was definitely not supposed to come out.

The boy tried in vain to connect the two pieces of rope back together, but the owner of the voice continued.

**_"Well done, kid. I am now free once more..."_ **

The sun had long set, but the inside of the shrine emit a bright white glow, accompanied by a gust of wind.

The youkai chasing him earlier seemed to have vanished. Was this one that powerful...?

The light diminished, and surrounded by whirling pieces of paper adorned with ancient scripts, was a...

"My, a brat gazes upon a youkai without fear... How brave..."

"... T-Tanuki?"

•

Now, Takashi's mind tended to run wild when it came to imagining what a youkai may look like. 

This, however, was far from what he expected.

"Who're you calling a tanuki? You of all people should..."

The not-tanuki's narrow eyes widened. It had spoken like it knew him, but he was quite sure he had never seen such a youkai before. 

"... You're not Natsume Reiko, are you?"

"N-Natsume Reiko?"

T... That was his grandmother's name, right? On his mother's side? That's who he got the green book from. How did the not-tanuki know her?

"H-how did you know my grandmother, not-tanuki-san?"

"Grandmother...? So it's really been that long, huh. What a fool she was..."

"E-excuse me, not-tanuki-san. What do you know of my grandmother?"

"Before we get into that, my name is Madara. Ma-da-ra. Get it, brat? If you want to use honorifics, I would suggest -sama if you want to live past tonight."

Hearing the prideful words coming out of the pudgy little creature was rather amusing, Takashi thought.

A rustling in a nearby bush startled him, and Madara noticed.

"You were being chased, right? The shrine should stop any low-levels from attacking. You'll be fine."

"Eh? Is that so..."

"Continuing, Reiko was a young girl last I saw her. Quite a bit older than you, though. She could also see spirits."

"So... My grandmother could also see you?"

Madara scoffed.

"I take this form simply because I was sealed in a lucky cat statue. I'll have you know my true form is much more majestic."

Oh, so he was a cat! That made a lot more sense than what Takashi was guessing he was.

"Say, brat, were you given the Book of Friends?"

Book of Friends? 

"Do you mean this one?"

The cat seemed surprised as he took the book out of his coat pocket, smacking his outstretched hand when he offered it to him.

"You idiot! Why'd you pull it out so nonchalantly? The low-levels not being able to get in does not equate to gossip not being able to spread!"

He sighed, seemingly calming himself.

"You really don't know anything... Let's go someplace else to discuss this."

Dust spiralled around the cat, blocking him from Takashi's sight for a brief moment. When it dissipated, a giant canid creature took his place. 

**_"Get on, brat. We're taking to the sky."_ **

Oh! That was the voice he had heard when the seal first broke! Less of the squeaky old man voice he had gotten used to coming from the cat, and more of a... More respectable old man. 

Cooler-Madara watched Takashi struggle to climb on to him for a while, before picking him up by the nape of his coat and placing him on his back with another sigh.

With a giant leap, both the beast and the boy found themselves in the open night air, far above the canopy of the forest below.

The long white fur he was grabbing on to was strangely soft.

**_"Do you have a home around here? It would by far be the safest option."_ **

"Ah! I-"

Takashi cut himself off. He had no home here, after all.

"... No."

**_"I see..."_ **

The silence that followed was calming, the only sounds being of the wind brushing past them. The town slept as the stars rose, and rise they did, twinkling their bright eyes at the pair as the cloudless night progressed.

**_"I'll just start here. That book of yours is filled with the names of youkai your grandmother defeated. Names to youkai are very different from what they are to you humans. Adding to the fact that they're forced to obey anybody who obtains their name, if anything happens to any of those pieces of paper, the youkai attached will suffer along with them."_ **

"That's horrible!"

Madara turned his eyes towards Takashi at his response.

**_"You really aren't like her at all..."_ **

Takashi met the youkai's gaze, perplexed.

**_"Ahem, back to the point. Once you get back to the ground, the youkai will start flooding in, either after the book or their names. What will you do about it?"_ **

The waning crescent moon hung low in the sky.

"Is there a way to return them? The names."

Something flashed in Madara's eyes.

**_"I may know somebody who can help you with that, but you'll have to stay with us for a bit longer. How about we come to an agreement?"_ ** ____

__A girl stood in a field of blue, her silver hair flowing in a breeze._ _

__"I'll stay for as long as I have to."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's the prologue done! Thanks for reading! I'll try to post these weekly if I can, but that may only hold up until next year. 
> 
> I wanted to add kappa and the Chuukyuu like in the last one, but Madara is so fun to write. Sorry! (／。＼)
> 
> Tell me what you think in the comments!


	3. Ripple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now enter the exorcist, and a certain water god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayy, next chapter!

"Humans live such short lives, and yet they still bother to stick their noses into everything instead of just trying to survive..."

"That's just the way we are, Kai."

Two youths peeked out of a thick bush, watching as the man who had just earlier erased a few of their acquaintances from existence bowed to a priest outside of an old temple. The seemingly younger one frowned at the scene playing before them, while the older simply looked on curiously.

The man spoke a few words, just barely audible from where they hid, and the boy's frown deepened.

"Tch... "All of them"? What are these exorcists even trying to achieve; killing some small fry and calling it a day. If you're going to try exterminating all youkai, at least take it seriously! Natsume. You're a human. You can go beat him up a bit, right? You're pretty good at that."

"Ehh? But we're already in enough trouble just being here! Sensei might actually eat me if I do that..."

"Then I'll rip open his stomach and get you out!"

"Ehhh?!"

**_"Is somebody there?"_**

The exorcist's steps grew louder as he approached them.

Whoops. It seems they talked too much.

Kai stood up from his place in the bush, and grabbed on to Takashi by the collar.

"Now, Natsume, we are going to do something that I am very good at."

"Wait, what do you mea-"

A twig underfoot snapped.

He then found himself being unceremoniously dragged through the forest at breakneck speeds by his friend, who also happened to be a literal god.

_"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"_

•

Natori Shuuichi, being as famous as he was, did not enjoy travelling long distances by train for jobs. Walking around in a station felt like he was still on set, especially when they were less crowded. If he did anything "out of character", so to speak, he would soon find a strangely high quality picture of himself being distributed around online. "How did I not notice somebody taking such a picture of me?", he would often ask himself afterwards. He was skilled in the art of exterminating creatures that, to the masses, are only ever seen in picture books, and yet he could not detect a camera pointing in his direction. His lack of attentiveness outside of his work disappointed him.

However, no matter how much he disliked the commute, the job always came first.

The priest who had called spoke of his son, Kaname, who frequently fell ill due to the presence of youkai around their temple home. He said he had already tried many cleansing techniques, which worked for about a week before they returned with more intensity. This was certainly bizarre, and the man worried for his son's safety. This was where Shuuichi came in.

Shuuichi's role was to sweep the area to clear out any youkai who began residing nearby, and set some traps to possibly find the culprit of the boosted recovery in them. The man had graciously allowed him to stay in the temple for a few days to observe the situation, which he gratefully accepted. His presence alone would be enough to scare some of the offenders away, after all.

The youkai he and his Shiki had exterminated just a short while ago were not all too powerful, choosing to beg for their lives instead of fight back. Their fates were set in stone either way. 

As the exorcist finished reporting his achievements to the priest, he noticed two strong presences someplace nearby. Calling Sasago and Urihime out, he weighed the likelihood of them being dangerous youkai. When he grew closer, however, a child popped out of the bush. Before he had a chance to properly react to the said child, he was gone, taking the other one with him. All that was left was a yell that quickly faded into the other sounds of the forest.

Were they just neighbourhood kids? Perhaps friends of Kaname-kun? Still, he usually would not mistake humans for youkai... Maybe the near constant presence of his Shiki around him made his detecting skills turn rusty.

"N-Natsume?"

The door slid open, and a tired-looking boy stepped out, rubbing his eyes.

"Kaname! You shouldn't be out of bed yet! Natori-san will be taking care of the youkai, so you should rest more!"

"Eh...? But I thought Natsume was here..."

The younger Tanuma was escorted back into the house, and Shuuichi was given a moment to himself outside.

Natsume, huh. It seems those two were Kaname-kun's friends after all. 

"Ah! Natori-san, it's getting rather late. I could prepare some dinner for you if you'd like."

"No need. I think I'll take this chance to explore the neighbourhood a little. Do you have any recommendations?"

•

"Natsume, you idiot! Why would you ever listen to what that pipsqueak god has to say?!"

Upon returning to the Dog's Circle, Takashi and Kai were greeted by a crowd of drunk youkai and a very angry lucky cat, who was also drunk.

"Sorry, Sensei. I won't do it again..."

Takashi received a smack to the head from the cat, and Kai giggled.

"Don't think you're safe from this either, you damned midget!"

The god took a seat next to a group of otters, beginning to pour himself his own cup of sake. 

"Of course, sir Madara. I would never do such a thing~"

"Argh, confound you!"

Takashi listened to the slurred chattering of the youkai surrounding him as he watched Madara and Kai's quarrel escalate.

"Sensei... You've been hosting sake parties almost every night for almost a month. Maybe you should tone it down a bit..."

"Huh? Come on, Natsume. You're just bitter that you can't go back on what you said about not wanting any alcohol until you're an adult. Why don't you just live your miserable little human life to the fullest?"

"Madara's right, you know? You're pretty much an adult by now, right? Two years hardly make a difference."

Hinoe draped herself over Takashi's shoulders, the cup in her slender hand nudging his face playfully.

"Two years do make a difference to miserable humans such as myself. I'll indulge myself in ways not including alcohol for now. Surely you guys can wait?"

Sixteen year-olds were usually not this skinny, right? Maybe he'll finally hit a growth spurt within the next two years. Hopefully...

"Baah, whatever. Go back to making flower crowns or something. Though, you better not return any more names tonight."

"Don't sully flower crowns by spouting their name from your sake-tainted mouth, Sensei."

"Yeah yeah. I'll be over here if you need me to save you from another weak youkai."

"Sensei!"

•

The night ended with the guests of the party slowly dispersing back into the forest, leaving only a few to rest in the clearing, now smelling of blown-out lanterns and the multitude of beverages consumed earlier. In the centre lay a great white beast, and nestled in its long fur was a boy whose hair shone in the moonlight. Others were scattered about, some in the trees, some below them. The air was still warm, but a cool wind foretold of the autumn soon to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chestnuts for more Tanuma and Natsume interaction in this universe!
> 
> Also, I made a sketch of Kai, if anybody wants to see! 
> 
> https://ibb.co/sywCfvp
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
